"Old Li, I'll go see if I can figure something out," I said. Old Li's face was ashen; I couldn't rely on him for anything now. I just let him know I was leaving to take action. Then, I glanced at the German man lying on the ground, constantly muttering for water in Mandarin, ignoring the dense swarm of grotesque human-faced monsters above my head. I simply took the searchlight from Old Li's hand and walked off to one side.

The moment the searchlight was in my grasp, the human-faced creatures overhead gave another sharp shriek, and then two or three of them suddenly swooped down in front of me. They looked up, wide-eyed and smiling, spared me a glance, and then fluttered back the way they came, as if they were merely scouting my condition and had no intention of making a move. Annoyed, I swung the searchlight wildly at them. This time, they ignored me completely, each one gently flapping its wings, entirely motionless, watching me with that quiet smile.

Having nowhere to vent my frustration, I kicked carelessly at the algae on the ground a few times, then used the searchlight to trace the cavern wall slowly, searching for a source of clean water. As long as we had water, we had a way out, no matter what.

This cavern was exceptionally vast. After walking along the rock face for perhaps fifteen minutes, I’d only covered about half the distance. Stranger still, the throbbing in my head had lessened, and my body felt as if it had finally found its center of gravity, no longer that light, listless feeling from before. My spirits immediately lifted. Could it be that prolonged walking neutralized the narcotic effect of the water-logged algae? Thinking this, I quickly quickened my pace along the wall. Indeed, the farther I walked, the clearer my mind became. A surge of elation flooded me; I was almost about to call out to Old Li to get moving and exercise as well. But the very instant I opened my mouth, a scent so familiar it was inescapable rushed over me. Simultaneously, the dizziness vanished completely, and my mind became perfectly lucid.

My recently soaring joy plummeted instantly to the depths. Blood scent! That all-too-familiar scent of blood! I strode forward quickly, and upon seeing it, I didn't even need the searchlight to be one hundred percent certain: this was the exact spring I had encountered several times on Mount Gyangzong La—I had even drunk some of that blood-spring water!

"Old Li..." My own voice had completely changed its tone, laced with a terror that choked out further words. "Old Li..."

"Wh... what..." Old Li completely ignored my panic, replying slowly, but with vigor.

"Quick, come here! The spring, the blood spring!" I stammered incoherently.

"What!" Old Li's voice instantly gained strength, followed by the sound of heavy, deliberate footsteps slowly approaching me. A moment later, Old Li reached my side.

"Huh?" Old Li exclaimed in surprise. "Why isn't my head so dizzy anymore?" He shook his head hard, confirming, "Truly not dizzy, and I feel strength back in my body too!"

I looked at him helplessly. "Same here, but... look at what's here..." As I spoke, I shone the searchlight onto a pool of dark, reddish water, waving it. "Remember? No-Face?"

Old Li's expression flickered through several changes, before he forced himself to a calm demeanor. "Yes, it's the blood spring water..."

With that, the two of us stared at each other, utterly at a loss. The presence of the blood spring meant something was here—something he and I understood all too well.

For a time, we stood frozen on the spot, uncertain what to do.

After a long while, I slowly managed to regain my composure; my mind returned to about half its normal capacity, and I finally remembered the half-dead German. Since being near the blood spring so quickly eliminated our state of paralysis, perhaps moving him over there might have some effect.

I explained the idea to Old Li, and he nodded in agreement; after all, at a time like this, one more person meant one more potential strength.

With strength returned to our limbs, walking back was much faster. In just a few strides, we reached the German. He had been quiet, but as soon as he saw us approach, he started mumbling again: "Water... water..." still in perfect Mandarin. It seemed his mind was still functioning and he wasn't entirely addled.

Old Li and I exchanged a look of understanding, one of us bracing to lift his head, the other his feet, preparing to carry him toward the blood spring. But the moment we lifted his body, a sudden, fierce gust of wind swept down from above—all those black masses of human-faced monsters were swooping down on us!

"Run!" Old Li and I dropped the German and bolted. We ran a good distance before looking back; surprisingly, the human-faced creatures hadn't followed. They merely circled the German once before flying back up into the air.

There was something fishy going on. They were afraid we would take the German away. It seemed the German was their food, and they were waiting patiently for him to die so they could have their feast.

The human-faced monsters had mostly engaged in intimidation tactics up to this point; we hadn't seen much in the way of actual attacks. This emboldened me considerably. I called to Old Li, and we went back to move the German.

Just as expected, the moment we tried to lift the German again, the human-faced monsters dove down once more. Old Li and I gritted our teeth and ran toward the blood spring carrying the man. But something bizarre happened: for the first few steps, the monsters pursued us in overwhelming numbers, but as soon as we reached the edge of the blood spring, they shrieked and scattered as if encountering their nemesis. They retreated as far from the spring as possible, yet they watched the three of us with unconcealed reluctance, especially as the majority of the monsters stared fixedly at the German.

For the moment, we had no inclination to dwell on why they fled. Old Li and I quickly dumped the German beside the blood spring. After dropping him, I had second thoughts; I knelt down and positioned his head directly facing the spring.

In less time than it takes to smoke half a cigarette, the German actually woke up. His first words upon regaining consciousness were: "Luo Lian? Li Zeng?" spoken in perfectly clear Chinese.

I stared at the blue-eyed, fair-skinned German lying on the ground, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me. It wasn't strange that he spoke Chinese, but how did he know both my and Old Li's names with such accuracy!

"You... how..." Old Li looked confused. "How did you know our names?"

The German smiled slightly and stood up, showing none of the listlessness from his unconscious state. "Matias, I am called," he said, extending his hand as if to shake ours.

Old Li and I exchanged a look, then reluctantly extended our hands to grip his.

I asked him the same question I’d asked Old Li: "How did you know our names?"

Matias smiled faintly, a touch of smugness in his demeanor. "When you two were rescued and brought back to Lhasa from Mount Gyangzong La, we had already noticed you both."

I felt a pang of distaste at his attitude. It seemed his group had been tracking us for a long time, and even questioning Xu Zhiwu in Lhasa had been premeditated. I sneered inwardly and remained silent.

Old Li, not one for many words, merely frowned without saying anything further. None of us were fools; we understood his meaning.

"I am a Chinese scholar, and also a geographer," Matias continued, sounding quite proud, his underlying contempt for us painfully obvious.

Unable to stand his showing off, I asked him in a very pleasant tone, "And your companions?" I watched him with suppressed schadenfreude, eager to see how he would answer!

Indeed, Matias's expression swiftly dimmed. "Our team leader unfortunately... unfortunately..." He repeated "unfortunately" twice, his face instantly contorting in fear. After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a few words: "Unfortunately sacrificed."

I already knew this; asking only served to deflate his ego a bit.

Once he finished, Old Li cooperatively asked, "The red spring water, have you seen it?"

Matias shook his head blankly, then crouched down, cupped a handful of the blood spring water, examined it closely, and stated with professional detachment: "The spring water is contaminated. Perhaps microbial contamination, perhaps mineral contamination." In his speech, he seemed to have forgotten the earlier mention of his companion's gruesome death.

"Microbes and minerals are entirely different paths. What you said is like saying nothing... Can't you give us a definitive answer?" I pressed, dissatisfied.

Matias looked at me strangely. "Luo Lian, what is so important about that? You can take a sample out for analysis. I don't have any equipment on me now, how can I give you a precise answer?"

I gave Matias a cold look. "Nothing important. If you’re so confident, take a few sips of this spring water, or make a cut on your arm and dab some of the blood spring water on it." As I spoke, I recalled Zhuoma Yangjin, her face pale yet forcing a smile as she instructed me—if I had no wounds, I should seek the successor of Master Panchen. The successor of Master Panchen was right here beside me, while she... her fate was unknown, her whereabouts silent...

My mind wandered. Where had I been going with that thought? I quickly refocused, looking at Matias with a challenging expression, and asked, "Do you dare try?"

Old Li watched him with the same look.

Matias was certainly no fool. He could sense something was amiss from the expressions on both our faces. He stammered, asking, "Is there anything miraculous about it?"

"Nothing miraculous," I said deliberately, keeping my tone light. "It just turns people into No-Face demons."

The moment Matias heard the words "No-Face demons," his expression changed drastically. He seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and immediately became subdued and compliant; all his previous arrogance vanished without a trace.

Since I had successfully knocked down his arrogance, I saw no need to waste more time frightening him. The mass of human-faced monsters not far away were still glaring at us menacingly, and beneath our feet was the paralyzing algae... Speaking of algae, I suddenly noticed there was no thick layer of it near the blood spring—none at all!

"Old Li, why is there no algae here?" I turned to ask him.

Old Li followed my gaze downward and shook his head in confusion.

Matias interjected, unwilling to be left out, "We can just take a sample back for testing to find out."

That was utter nonsense. I couldn't help but sneer. "Why don't you try climbing out of this rock wall for me first and show me."

Matias gave me an innocent look and said no more.

Old Li suddenly smacked his own forehead. "Everything has its opposite... Could it be that this blood spring water is the nemesis of the algae and the human-faced monsters?"